Bob Hanna: Worcester fighter ready for the big stage

Thursday

Oct 4, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Worcester's Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez moved a step closer to a world title shot Saturday night on HBO with an eighth-round TKO over previously unbeaten Jason Escalara at the MGM Grand Theatre at the Foxwoods Casino.

BOB HANNA

Worcester's Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez moved a step closer to a world title shot Saturday night on HBO with an eighth-round TKO over previously unbeaten Jason Escalara at the MGM Grand Theatre at the Foxwoods Casino.

The undefeated Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) is ranked No. 3 by the WBC, No. 4 by the IBF and No. 8 by the WBA in the super middleweight division. And if things don't work out there, he could always move up to the light heavyweight division.

He tipped the scales at 166, two pounds under the super middleweight limit, at Friday night's weigh-in, but was 186 when he entered the ring the following night. That's 11 pounds over the light heavyweight limit.

I don't know how today's fighters do it without slowing themselves down, but we're seeing that 24-hour vault in hydrated weight more and more. Personally, I think they ought to go back to having the official weigh-in the day of the fight. But that's another story.

The 20-pound jump in weight certainly didn't slow Rodriguez down any as he took it to the over-matched Escalara from the opening bell.

Escalara may have been an undefeated prospect (13-0-1, 12 KOs) going into the fight, but he was no match for Rodriguez, who has graduated from brawling prospect to well-rounded contender under the guidance of renowned trainer Ronnie Shields, who was added to the Rodriguez team a year ago.

"La Bomba" couldn't put the tough Escalara down (he has never been down, amateur or pro), but came close on at least two occasions and had him teetering on the ropes when referee Steve Smoger waved a halt to the one-sided contest.

And when Rodriguez got a little careless, Shields was there to reprimand him for getting too close to the power-punching Escalara.

"You don't need to get that close to him," Shields was heard telling Rodriguez between rounds. "You can reach him from outside."

Which is precisely what Rodriguez did at the start of the eighth round when he drove Escalara into the ropes with a straight right down the pike and followed that with right-left-right combination before Smoger ended the one-sided contest.

That's another thing about Rodriguez, who moved to Worcester from the Dominican Republic when he was 13 — he listens.

He may not be ready for WBC/WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward, a top three or four pound-for-pound fighter, but he is ready for the likes of champions Carl Froch (IBF) and Arthur Abraham (WBO).

There's also talk of an elimination bout with former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, now campaigning as a super middleweight, and former light heavy champ Jean Pascal.

Whoever, the soft-spoken Rodriguez, who lets his fists do his talking, is ready for the big stage.

Considering Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s erratic behavior in the past year or so (an arrest for suspicion of drunken driving, missing four days of training while preparing for the biggest fight of his career, his roller-coaster weight, etc.), his testing positive for marijuana came as no great surprise.

Neither was the leniency shown by the WBC, which let him off with a $10,000 fine with the stipulation he enter rehab for his problem. No suspension, maybe because the drug involved was marijuana and not steroids. An immediate rematch with Sergio Martinez, of course, is off the table.

For what it's worth, the son of a legend issued an apology to his fans and "to all who are disappointed or hurt by my behavior. ... In contrast, I can say that I'll emerge stronger from these events and I will put forth all my effort to vindicate my image in society."

Let's hope so. The kid has talent.

We would be remiss in our reporting if we didn't mention the senseless murder of former heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders of South Africa during an armed robbery.

Sanders was at a family member's 21st birthday party at a restaurant in Brits in South Africa's Northwest province on Sept. 22, when three armed men entered the restaurant and began shooting randomly, according to police.

Sanders was hit in the hand and the stomach and died a few hours later in a hospital in Pretoria. Three Zimbabwean men, ages 19, 20 and 20, have been arrested and charged with the murder.

Sanders earned a permanent niche in boxing lore as the author of one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history — his sensational second-round knockout of WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko in March, 2003.

Sanders was a 40-1 underdog and his victory was named Ring magazine's Upset of the Year. Sanders lost the title in his next fight a year later to Wladimir's older brother, Vitali, via an eighth-round TKO.

Sanders retired in 2008 with a 42-4 record with 31 KOs. The Klitschko brothers issued a statement on learning of his untimely death, which read in part:

"We will remember Corrie as a great person, both inside and outside the ring. He was a great fighter with a big heart, who always positively represented the sport of boxing."

Amen.

Manny Pacquiao has not only agreed to whatever kind of random drug testing Floyd Mayweather wants, he has also agreed to take the short end of 55-45 purse split, according to reports out of Mexico City, where the publicity tour for Marquez-Pacquiao IV in December concluded.

"Win or lose, I'll take 45 percent," Pacquiao reportedly told his publicist Fred Sternburg during a press conference. "Floyd can have top billing. He can be introduced in the ring first or last. He can wear my trunks, I don't care. I just want to get him in the ring and make the fight."

The ball, as they say, is now squarely in Mayweather's court. Put up or shut up, Floyd.

But I can't help wondering what Juan Manuel Marquez is thinking right now.

Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Contact him at sports@s-t.com

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